0:14Skip to 0 minutes and 14 secondsTANYA MARCHANT: We've now come to the end of this course. Over the last weeks, we've heard from a broad range of experts who have described the health status of women, children, and adolescents, and told us about discoveries about risks to health, developments in new tools to improve health outcomes, and the strategies needed to deliver health care around the world. But despite the multidisciplinary perspectives from individuals, there have been emerging themes. For example, we've heard about the importance of context and country ownership, so that strategies are tailored to the needs of individual countries.

0:59Skip to 0 minutes and 59 secondsWe've also heard about the importance of improving measurement and linking it to accountability, so that inequities in health are not only measured, but acted upon, and nobody is left behind. On a personal note, I've learned a lot from the course. I lived in Sub-Saharan Africa for 15 years, and the focus of my work there has been to generate evidence about what helps and what hinders the delivery of life-saving interventions to women and newborns. But with the lifecycle approach taken on this course, I'm reminded that while my priority has been on babies and their mothers, it's important to remember the needs of the young person in the middle.

1:49Skip to 1 minute and 49 secondsI'd like to thank everybody who's contributed to the course, and to thank you too for your participation and interest. We are part of a generation that has witnessed remarkable improvements in survival around the world. And if we can put this evidence into action, even more progress is possible in the future.

Summary of Week 6 and the course

We have now reached the end of the course. Over the past six weeks we have heard from a broad range of experts who have described the health status of women, children and adolescents, told us about the discovery of the risks to health, the development of new tools to improve health outcomes, and what it takes to deliver strategies that work around the world.

Despite the differences throughout the lifecycle and the multidisciplinary interests of the various contributors, clear overall messages have emerged. One example is the value of context and country ownership so that evidence and implementation is tailored to local realities. Another is the importance of improved measurement and stronger links to accountability so that inequities are not just measured, but acted on, and no-one is left behind.

Thank you!

We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the course from the School’s MARCH Centre and beyond, and to thank you too for your interest and participation. We are part of a generation that has witnessed the most dramatic improvements in human survival but for women, newborns, children and adolescents around the world, even more improvements are possible if we collectively use this evidence to take action.